Ginseng – its notoriety began in China as a cure for many ailments. It wasn’t long before demand for the human-like root outweighed the supply, thus sparking the search for ginseng in similar climates within North America. Ginseng has been dug for generations in the Appalachian Mountains. It’s a tradition and a skill that has been handed down as a means of income when other sources of work were scarce. Over-harvesting has led to a decline in the wild population, leading some innovative folks to grow it on their property. Independent Ginseng Expert, Bob Beyfuss illustrates the different varieties of ginseng. The differences reflect the manner in which they’re grown: field-cultivated ginseng roots are larger due to the use of fungicides, pesticides and fertilizers. They’re generally grown in dense beds that are prone to disease, thus calling for heavy doses of chemicals. Woods-cultivated roots may have some fungicides and pesticides applied, but unlike field cultivated, as the name implies, woods cultivated ginseng is grown in the forest, but in a more controlled environment than wild-simulated plots. Wild-simulated roots are grown in the forest and are not fertilized…they are meant to be grown as if they were wild roots. Wild roots, as mentioned earlier, are meeting a steep decline because they’re being over-harvested with little effort at stewardship. Bob illustrates each variety of ginseng in this video and explains the attached values.
So now we know what ginseng is and how its colors and properties reflect the manner in which it’s grown. Before rushing out to buy seeds and plant your future retirement in the back yard, you should know where ginseng prefers to grow. Bob explains what forest type and climate suits ginseng best:
Perhaps you’ve identified a suitable site to plant this cash crop and you’ve obtained some seed from a reliable source. (Ginseng seed takes two cold seasons to germinate. It will generally crack open, indicating that it has undergone the second cold season and is ready to be planted. Seed obtained directly from adult plants’ berries should be planted right away but will still take two cold seasons to germinate.) Fortunately, planting ginseng seed is the easy part.
Bob Beyfuss explains ginseng’s life cycle from seed to seed-bearing plant. We take a look at a very old specimen of Catskill Mountain ginseng which is being preserved for its seeds in order to continue the genetic strain.
Years have passed and you’re finally ready to harvest your first crop. What you may be wondering is what to do with it… How do you harness its medicinal properties and how should it be consumed? Bob explains two methods for processing ginseng in this last video of our Forest Farming YouTube series.
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